Lesson Plan:  The General History by John Smith

 

AIM: 

• How can we recognize different types of discourse?

 

DO NOW: 

• Copy definitions for different types of discourse (see attached notes).

 

MOTIVATION: 

• Using a picture (see attached) as the subject, students will be asked to write down a sentence that employs each type of discourse.

 

PRODEDURE:

1.             Teacher will discuss the definitions for each type of discourse with the students.  The class will be asked questions like:  What kinds of words can be used for description?  Do advertisements use persuasive language?  What kind of books use expository writing?  What did you do after you woke up this morning?

 

2.             Students will be asked to perform the motivational exercise described above.  After each sentence has been written, the teacher will ask for volunteers to share their writing.

 

3.             The biography of John Smith will be read aloud in class.

 

4.             If time permits, students will read aloud The General History by John Smith.  Any remaining reading will be assigned for homework.

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be asked to paraphrase the definition of each type of discourse and give examples.

 

HOMEWORK:

• Give one example of each type of discourse as found in John Smith’s The General History.

 

 

 

Notes for John Smith, The General History

 

 

Types of Discourse

 

1. Description – shows how something strikes the senses, how it looks, smells, feels, tastes, or sounds.

 

2. Exposition – presents information; it explains related ideas or facts.

 

3. Narration – tells about a series of events

 

4. Persuasion – tries to make its audience adopt an opinion or perform and action, or both.

 

 

Lesson Plan:  Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

 

AIM: 

• How does religion affect the way in which early American historical records were written?

 

DO NOW: 

• Copy notes on Puritanism (see attached notes).

 

MOTIVATION: 

• Students will be asked to recall images seen in music videos and compare them to the beliefs of Puritanism listed in the notes.

 

PRODEDURE:

1.             Teacher will review the notes on Puritanism and engage the students in a conversation using the elements discussed in the motivation.

 

2.             The biography of William Bradford will be read aloud in class.

 

3.             Word Tracking:

·        Groups of students will be assigned two paragraphs of William Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation.

·        Each group will be asked to count the number of times words like God, Lord, pray, heaven, or grace appear in the assigned paragraphs.  Each group will report the word frequency and the results will be recorded on the blackboard.

·        Students will then be asked to look at the context in which theses words appear.  As quotes are cited in the text, students will be asked: How are these words/phrases/sentences representative of Puritan beliefs?

 

4.             Students will be asked what type of qualities they think history should have.  Elements such as accuracy, objectivity, reliability, and perspective will be discussed.

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be asked what kind of effect the religious references that appear in Of Plymouth Plantation have on the reliability of the text.

 

HOMEWORK:

• Read Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford and write one paragraph stating whether this text should be studied as history, literature, or both.

 

 

 

Notes for William Bradford Of Plymouth Plantation

 

 

Three beliefs of Puritanism:

 

1. Grace – granted by God; the cleansing of lust, envy, and vanity

 

2. Plainness – return to the simple forms of worship in Christianity

 

3. Divine Mission – “True Christianity”– saw America as a place especially appointed by God to be an example to the rest of the world, a “city upon a hill.”

 

 

Lesson Plan:  Native American Poetry

 

AIM: 

• How do Native American religious practices differ from the Puritans?

 

DO NOW: 

• Journal: Nature is…

 

MOTIVATION: 

• Students will be asked to discuss their feelings towards nature.

 

PRODEDURE:

1.             Once the students have shared their view of nature, they will be asked to recall the way in which William Bradford described nature in Of Plymouth Plantation.

 

2.             The introduction to Native American poetry found in the textbook will be read aloud in class.

 

3.             Choral Reading

·        As a class, students will recite Song of the Sky Loom.

·        The class will then be broken up into two groups.  Each group will read aloud every other line of The Corn Grows Up.

 

4.              Internet demonstration: see link at www.geocities.com/baione11.  Students will see video clips from Native American powwows, hear Native American music, and see sketches of early Native Americans and early Puritans.  While viewing these images, the class will discuss oral tradition, differences between Native American and Puritan religion, practices, and dress, and relations between these two groups.

 

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be asked to discuss in what ways do the practices of early Native Americans differ from the Puritans.

 

 

HOMEWORK:

• Rewrite on the Native American poems from a Puritan perspective.

 

 

 

Lesson Plan:  Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God by Jonathan Edwards

 

AIM: 

• How does imagery enhance persuasive writing?

 

DO NOW: 

• Write down one item you have purchased after seeing the commercial.

 

MOTIVATION: 

• Students will be asked to discuss the commercials for the different products they wrote down in the Do Now.

 

PRODEDURE:

1.             Students will discuss the commercials for the products they wrote down in the Do Now.  Teacher will ask questions like: What makes you want these items?  What does the commercial tell you?  What does the commercial show you?

 

2.             Class will be given newspaper cutouts of travel and personal ads (see attached).  Students will be asked to pick out language from these ads that reminds them of the images they have seen in commercials.

 

3.              Class will discuss the four elements of persuasive writing and define imagery (see attached).

 

4.             The biography of Jonathan Edwards will be read aloud in class. 

 

5.             Read Around exercise

·        The Great Awakening will be discussed briefly.  Students will be asked to discuss evangelists or revival meeting they may have seen on television to illustrate “religious fervor.”

·        Class will read excerpts from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God from a worksheet (see attached) and asked to add “religious fervor” to their tone of voice to bring life and voice to the text.

·        Once the readings have been completed, teacher will reveal the source of the worksheet as being Sinners.

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be to pick out some of the imagery found in Sinners. 

 

 

 

HOMEWORK:

• Finish reading Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God.  Identify the speaker, audience, occasion, and means of persuasion for Sinners.  Under means of persuasion, give an example from the text. 

 

 

 

Notes for Jonathan Edwards’, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

 

 

Elements of Persuasion

 

1. Speaker – one who is speaking or writing a particular piece; tries to show that they are well qualified to offer an opinion

 

2. Audience – those to whom a speech or piece of writing is addressed.

 

3. Occasion – the circumstances in which the piece was created.

 

4. Means of Persuasion – technique (logic, appeal to authority, imagery)

 

5. Image – an image is a word or phrase that names something seen, heard, tasted, or smelled.  A collection or group of images is called imagery.

 

 

 

 

Lesson Plan:  Preparing to Write a Task Four Essay

 

AIM: 

• Describe the elements needed to write a Regent Task Four style essay.

 

DO NOW: 

• Quiz on Puritan and Native American literature (see attached).

 

PRODEDURE:

1.             Review of literature read thus far in class.

·        Students will be asked to complete review sheets as a class that cover elements such as title, author, genre, summary, etc. (see attached).

 

2.             Review of Literary terminology relevant to the task.

·        Students will be asked to complete review sheets of terminology that can be incorporated in the Regents style essay they will write for homework.

 

3.             Students will be asked to recall the outline for a Regents Task Four essay.

 

 

SUMMARY:

• Students will be asked to brainstorm ideas for their essay that incorporate the literature studied, terminology, and that demonstrate a working knowledge of the Regents format.

 

 

HOMEWORK:

• Critical lens essay.

 

 

 

Name: ___________________________                             Date: _____________

English 11                                                                                                          Period ___

 

 

1. A.  In The General History, John Smith refers to himself in ________________.  (1pt.)

 

B.  Why?  (2pts.)

 

 

 

 

2. A.  What happens when Smith sets out to explore the Chickahominy River?  (2pts.)

 

 

 

 

B.  Of what type of discourse is this section an example?  (1pt.)

 

 

 

3. William Bradford believed that they had arrived in America because _______________________.  (2pts.)

 

 

 

4. Describe the relationship between Bradford’s people and the Indians.  (2pts.)

 

 

 

 

5. How was Native American poetry transmitted from one generation to the next?  (2pts.)

 

 

6. How did Jonathan Edwards try to persuade his audience?  (2pts.)

 

 

 

 

7. In what way does Edwards’ image of God differ from the other Puritan works we have read thus far?  (6pts.)

 

 

 

Types of Prose Narratives

 

1. Short Story – a brief work of fiction.

 

 

 

 

2. Autobiography – (or memoir) when a writer tells a true story from his or her own life.

 

 

 

 

3. Biography – when a writer tells a true story from someone else’s life.

 

 

 

 

4. Narrative Personal Essay – a short nonfiction work about a single topic and may be autobiographical or biographical.  Usually, a narrative personal essay is written to make a specific point and uses a true autobiographical or biographical story to illustrate the point.

 

 

 

 

5. Journal – (or diary) a day-to-day account that may be true or fictional.

 

 

 

 

Elements and Techniques Found in Literature

 

1. Image – a word or phrase that names something that can be seen heard, touched, tasted, or smelled.  (Imagery – a collection of images.

 

 

 

 

2. Style – (or voice) the sum of all the characteristics that make a writer’s work sound unique.

 

 

 

 

3. Tone – the attitude adopted by the speaker, narrator, or the author of a literary work, or by a character in a literary work.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Theme – the main idea of the literary work.

 

 

 

 

5. Hyperbole – an exaggeration for effect.

 

 

 

 

6. Metaphor – a figure of speech in which one thing is described as if it were another.

 

 

 

 

7. Simile – a type of metaphor; a comparison using like or as.

 

 

 

 

8. Onomatopoeia – the use of words or phrases that sound like the things they describe.